In the prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,283 of Hazelett et al. discloses a bicycle hitch for a one-wheel trailer with a horizontal tubular hitch bar.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,266 of Kelley et al. discloses an improvement in the Hazelett et al. hitch.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,928,985 of Nowlin shows a bicycle buggy apparatus having a tongue-and-socket pin hitch attachable to a sleeve placed on the seat support frame member.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,120 of Stowe teaches a bicycle towing apparatus including a horizontal member vertically pivotable about a seat support member and a pair of legs extending from the rear end of the horizontal member to the rear wheel axle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,328,915 of Melton, III discloses apparatus for mounting a basket or other accessory to a carrier rack of a conventional bicycle.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,583,550 of Dennis et al. shows a support for attaching a wire basket to the front of a bicycle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,577,786 of Dowrick et al. discloses a device for securing a pannier bag to a bicycle frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,850 of Jackson et al. discloses a pannier which is attachable to the rear carrier rack of a bicycle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,440,331 of Schimmels teaches a construction of a child protective carrier mountable over a bicycle wheel.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,395,130 of Rubin discloses a bicycle balance trainer. The bicycle balance trainer is essentially a handle which attaches to a bicycle at positions and with bolts usually employed for mounting training wheels but does not suggest a dropout frame member capable of simultaneously mounting several bicycle accessories to a bicycle frame. The handle of the Rubin invention is used by a person to give aid to a novice bicycle rider learning to ride a bicycle.
There are many accessories which are currently useful to bicyclists. These include removable fenders over the front and/or rear wheels, bicycle cargo carrying racks which may be positioned over either wheel, cargo carrying racks with integral baskets, saddlebags or panniers which are generally mounted on a cargo carrying rack, and even small trailers for carrying children or other cargo.
While all of the above-indicated accessories are known and available on the market, each accessory typically has its own mounting system by which it is attached to the bicycle. At times, the mounting system of one available accessory makes simultaneous mounting of other accessories difficult, inconvenient or impossible. Generally, the various accessory mounts are incompatible.
The bicycle mounting devices in the prior art also have additional drawbacks, namely that most such devices are attached in a semipermanent way and require tools and installation time to mount or remove the device, and that those few devices which quickly engage or release the accessory are rarely lockable or capable or capable of protecting the accessory and its contents from being stolen. None of the references enables the simultaneous mounting of a wide variety of standard accessories to a bicycle, whereby individual accessories may be quickly and easily mounted or removed as desired.
In addition to the lack of points of attachment for bicycle accessories, another recognized problem in the mounting of bicycle accessories to the frame of a bicycle is that generally, the points of attachment are only as sturdy as the mechanical fastener used to secure mounting apparatus to the frame of the bicycle. And as was stated above, it may be difficult to secure an attachment apparatus to the frame of a bicycle. To remedy this problem, the present invention provides an attachment apparatus for simultaneous mounting of multiple bicycle accessories that is integral to the frame of the bicycle. The attachment apparatus takes the form of an improved dropout frame member which in part comprises a web extending rearward from the frame of the bicycle, the web having formed therein a slot for securing an axle of a bicycle wheel to the frame and also apertures for attaching bicycle accessories to the frame of the bicycle. The web may be arcuate, rectangular, or any other suitable geometric configuration.